Posted 2 years ago on Jan. 20, 2013, 2:04 a.m. EST by TrevorMnemonic
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They Should Have Let the Banks Fail: How every phony who voted for TARP fucked you over and is still fucking you over to this day.

The permanent bailout state is for the continued empowerment of the 1%, it's not about saving the economy and American jobs.

Your money is backed by the FDIC up to $250,000.... backed by the FDIC thanks to the Glass-Steagall act, which the Wall Street government effectively destroyed most of in 1999 with the Financial Modernization Act. But luckily the FDIC still backs your money.

The banks are fraudulent and fucking people over by stealing their homes, pensions, 401ks, investments, and destabilizing the economy creating massive job loss. They keep you in massive debt with student loans in a society with growing inflation and decreasing opportunity with low wage part time jobs. They keep you in debt with mortgages and much more. These banks buy our government to then further allow them to fuck us over. In some cases, like HSBC, they directly fund terrorism and drug cartels.

The banks fail, the debts to those banks go away.

Money given to banks via subsidies, TARP programs, etc all a waste to keep people in this debt based society where the 1% reign elite and allows the banks and corporations to loot the treasury.

The trillions of dollars of government funds being spent to sustain these corrupt corporations could have been used to renovate the economy. We could have saved 10's of millions of Americans from poverty.

instead of TARP alone we could have started 10 new banks with 35 billion dollars each and a 10 to 1 leverage to open new credit markets. Instead bonuses were paid to CEO's of failing banks and people remain in debt to frauds.

If the government was trying to help you when it comes to the Wall Street hacks, they'd be pushing reforms that block banks from selling debts, they wouldn't make it near impossible to file bankruptcy, or prevent you from getting benefits in your old age due to student loan debts. They'd prosecute HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and the other big banks for their acts of fraud, reform them into smaller banks and break up the monopolies, or like previously suggested create new banks instead. They wouldn't have voted for TARP, instead if they were legit, they'd reform monetary policy to support job growth, societal advancement, social programs, healthcare, and much more. But they are praising the current system that is just printing off trillions for banks and profits for the 1%.

You can't depend on people funded by Wall Street to save you from Wall Street.

"You are not a loan" - one of my favorite slogans from OWS.

The good paying jobs are gone and they're not coming back under this system of corporatism. What hasn't been outsourced to foreign labor will slowly or even quickly be turned into part time work so they don't have to pay benefits and further create a desperate work force willing to work for less under an employers market. That's right, they're coming for the full time jobs next. Along with stagnant wages you will slowly get pushed closer to the poverty line, or if you're already there, even further below the poverty line due to inflation.

"So just strap on your job helmet, and squeeze into a job cannon and fire off into good paying job land, where jobs grow on jobbies!"

The current economic crisis cannot be solved with the thinking that created it. There is simply not enough money in the system to fund the services we desperately need, pay down the debt, and keep taxes affordable. The money supply has shrunk by $4 trillion since 2008, according to the Fed’s own website. The only solution is to add more money to the real, producing economy; And that means some congressionally-mandated entity needs to create it, either the Fed or the Treasury.

The Fed has declined. In flatly rejecting the Treasury’s legal tender, the Fed as representative of the banks is asserting itself as outranking the elected representatives of the people. If the Fed won’t acknowledge the coins created by the government, perhaps the government needs to charter a publicly-owned bank that will.

We have a chance today to end the charade of big money gridlock politics, as well as the reign of the big banks. We have the power to choose prosperity over austerity. But to do it, we must first restore the power to create money to the people.'

The objective of the contemporary government is to continue to govern people as they are meant to govern.The contemporary governments in capitalist countries are not meant for benefiting the 99% but are meant to benefit the 1% ruling and rich class.Then how come would the contemporary government in USA let the Banks Fail which would have rendered them powerless.Their power(that of the contemporary governments) comes from reinforcing the anti-people institutions like financial institutions,police,anti-people culture ,anti-people values etc.

Break up the oversized banks that are “too big to fail,” starting with Bank of America.

Create a Corporation for Economic Democracy, a new federal corporation (like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) to provide publicity, training, education, and direct financing for cooperative development and for democratic reforms to make government agencies, private associations, and business enterprises more participatory.

End bailouts for the financial elite and use the FDIC resolution process for failed banks to reopen them as public banks where possible after failed loans and underlying assets are auctioned off.

Democratize monetary policy to bring about public control of the money supply and credit creation. This means nationalizing the private bank-dominated Federal Reserve Banks and placing them under a Federal Monetary Authority within the Treasury Department.

Establish federal, state, and municipal publicly-owned banks that function as non-profit utilities and focus on helping people, not enriching themselves.

Break up the monopolies. The so-called "Too Big to Fail" financial companies – now sometimes called by the more accurate term "Systemically Dangerous Institutions" – are a direct threat to national security. They are above the law and above market consequence, making them more dangerous and unaccountable than a thousand mafias combined. There are about 20 such firms in America, and they need to be dismantled; a good start would be to repeal the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and mandate the separation of insurance companies, investment banks and commercial banks.

Pay for your own bailouts. A tax of 0.1 percent on all trades of stocks and bonds and a 0.01 percent tax on all trades of derivatives would generate enough revenue to pay us back for the bailouts, and still have plenty left over to fight the deficits the banks claim to be so worried about. It would also deter the endless chase for instant profits through computerized insider-trading schemes like High Frequency Trading, and force Wall Street to go back to the job it's supposed to be doing, i.e., making sober investments in job-creating businesses and watching them grow.

No public money for private lobbying. A company that receives a public bailout should not be allowed to use the taxpayer's own money to lobby against him. You can either suck on the public teat or influence the next presidential race, but you can't do both. Butt out for once and let the people choose the next president and Congress.

Tax hedge-fund gamblers. For starters, we need an immediate repeal of the preposterous and indefensible carried-interest tax break, which allows hedge-fund titans like Stevie Cohen and John Paulson to pay taxes of only 15 percent on their billions in gambling income, while ordinary Americans pay twice that for teaching kids and putting out fires. I defy any politician to stand up and defend that loophole during an election year.

Change the way bankers get paid. We need new laws preventing Wall Street executives from getting bonuses upfront for deals that might blow up in all of our faces later. It should be: You make a deal today, you get company stock you can redeem two or three years from now. That forces everyone to be invested in his own company's long-term health – no more Joe Cassanos pocketing multimillion-dollar bonuses for destroying the AIGs of the world.

Most accounts after being sold to creditors have a one-time settlement rate that’s preapproved (typically 15 to 35 percent on credit card debt). They buy the debts at lower rates than this.

I did it years ago when my card raised my interest rate to 29.9% for paying 2 days late. I said fuck that. I also had a friend who was a creditor who made the suggestion. I ended up settling for about 55% of what I owed.

He told me all about the scams they try to pull on people. Trying to scam families to pay for their deceased family members debts. All sorts of shit. He eventually quit.

Honestly I probably didn't even have to pay it. When I was 19 i became unemployed for a couple months and accidentally over drew my bank account for 9 dollars. They charged me 60 dollars in fees because it was 2 separate transactions. I said fuck that, I'm not paying that, I'm broke and the fine is bogus. They charged me 10 dollars a day until my account reached negative 850 some dollars. They eventually sent it to a creditor and I never paid it because it was all bullshit money. It's been 6 years and they stopped sending me letters about 3 years ago. Friend also said they only take higher debts to court. So if you owe just a couple thousand, fuck the banks. They have no problem fucking over the economy and stealing our government. So fuck them right back.

If the federal reserve loaned me a trillion dollars to put on deposit, like they did in 2008 for BOA, I not only would have been able to pay off my debt, but I would have been able to pay the trillion back as well... along with profiting billions from keeping the trillion on deposit. So why did the banks get bailed out and the people forced to stay in debt? We have a Wall Street government.

That same friend abandoned about 4 grand in credit card debt. It's been years and they stopped contacting him.

I'll second A4C's motion below! Now we're talking! The actions you describe above are the one's that would stop the banksters dead in their tracks. It is a BIG action that could not be ignored. How to mass co-ordinate is the question. That being said...I think it would catch on real quick!

This kind of action is one that would expedite matters exponentially! Thanks TM!

I think it is more like civil obedience because to say disobedience depends on what terms and with WE People being civil is being upright and peaceful for love of more than money while remaining polite with equality that includes the acceptance of others doing same

Too few with too much, and wealth still being concentrated with them at an exponentially increasing rate, is the greatest threat the human race has faced for the past ten thousand years of devolving culture we call civilization.

If we don't rid ourselves of the rich parasites, one way or the other, they will cause our extinction.

Bingo & http://strikedebt.org/ ! What you say here is what we all need to do! Excellent post & thread! One of the best! We all need to stand up against The Banks and their b.s.! Never Give Up! Solidarity:)

Have you thought about making the "Debt Resistance Initiative" and "Debt Resistance Manual" described in your link above into a special thread of its own? I think many people would jump on board in a heartbeat! Just a thought.

I once did a forum post here and it still keeps me busy, as I'm too conscientious in replying lol, so I'm not at all sure that I have time to nurture another thread but please do feel free to do as you suggest.
I'd join that 'caravan' :) Solidarity.

Despite 'The Extremist Cult Of Capitalism' - http://www.nationofchange.org/extremist-cult-capitalism-1358779216 - stay on 'the bright side of the road' & 'In the words of Bertrand Russell, "Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate."!' Thanks for your eponymous tune & solidarity:)

I know of someone who owed over $30,000 in credit card debt and never paid off a cent of it. Even though he knew he was legally responsible for it, the debt had occurred due to a co-authorized card holder running up the debt. So, he did some research and found a cease and desist letter to send to all of the creditors to stop them and the law firms they sold the debts to from contacting him unless they were ready to sue someone who couldn't pay. After 3 years of trying to get him to pay them off at a discount, they had to stop pursuing the debt according to his state's laws. The only creditor that hadn't sold the debt owned to them was American Express. American Express wants their money...but they didn't get it.

I've never paid either. Though my debt was not even as much I am with you. There is NO reason people should work so hard and pay taxes that are used to give the banks that are still charging them money for any reason. It is all the peoples money to begin with.The money actually belongs to the people busting ass in work or putting up with this corruption and suffering too. Maybe refusing to pay taxes is reasonable. Instead of paying for this system people could pay less to help the ones needing social service/food stamps and s.s. for much less..

You're right. In fact, even Suze Orman once told someone that it's better to default and settle OR just ignore it and let it fall off your credit than to try and pay off years and years of fees and interest.
Toyota tried to screw me several years ago on a lease saying that I owed them 750 dollars for a missing cigarette lighter. I said, ' Fuck you' and I've never paid them a dime. Technically, any bad debt is supposed to come off your credit after 7 years. !!!!!! But, what they do is have some collector call you right at 7 years and IF you answer the phone or acknowledge their threat in any way, that reactivates the debt for another 7 years. !!!!!! So beware..beware and make sure that you ignore them. In many cases you can have the debt removed from your credit report but again, that sometimes will reactivate the debt so make sure it's year 8 when you do that.

Banks are really nasty entities and will always screw their customers- even the small town banks.

Several years ago I kept my business account with BB&T. I deposited cash into that account one morning to cover a check I was going to write to a dealership later that day to purchase a truck for my company. I didn't want to finance the truck and I just wanted to pay cash. So, I loaned my company the cash to pay for the truck and I deposited it into my bus. checking so that I could have a hard record of the check transaction. Even though I deposited the cash at 9am and purchased the truck after noon, they charged me an overdraft of 650.00 because they said my funds were not avail for 36 hours. I was livid of course. For one thing their overdraft fee suddenly went from 32.00 to 10 percent? They told me that it was because it was such a large check. They must think we are truly idiots. Does it take more effort to process a hundred dollar check vs a 5 dollar check? The other thing is that based on the terms of my account, NOTHING should have been approved that was over 500 dollars without contacting me first and yet they approved a 6500 dollar check? What if I had been a crook? OH but they already knew I wasn't a crook. It was so fucking obvious that they knew the money was good, it was cash after all and they approved the check at the dealership. But they were angry that I did not leave my money in there long enough for them to make money on it. So, they punished me. I immediately yanked all my money out of there and yelled a few obscenities and that was the end of that.
Stay away from banks and if you think credit unions are going to continue to be better, just wait. They will be forced to impose fees and charges just like other banks do today.

Well that may work for you but not someone else. Many employers check your credit record as a condition of employment. And yes, you'll never find out why you weren't hired. Some insurers have been checking credit and linking the info to insurance rates. There are consequences to bonehead actions. You think these things go unnoticed? Welcome to the big database in the sky... and it's getting bigger and bigger.

No it doesn't. I have a good credit record actually. Not that I care because I'm not going more into debt with these banks ever again. The debt mentioned in my previous comment shows up as paid/settled or something like that.

Rough times the first few years on my own had me making minimum payments and by the time I had paid the 55% of the debt that remained after the default - I actually more than paid back what I initially borrowed. I was being scammed and I ended the game. I'm not going to continue getting hardcore scammed just because someone throws some scare phrases out there like "they'll know" - I don't care.

This debt based economy system is a scam. Like I said, if politicians cared about helping people they'd pass laws to protect them, like banning credit checks for employment that you mention. People generally stop paying a debt on time because they can't afford it. Maybe soon enough they'll stop because they'll realize the entire system is a fucking scam. Preventing people from getting a job because of debt is the opposite of what needs to happen. How else are they going to pay it? - further evidence THEY're purposely trying to create an underclass.

We can't depend on people funded by Wall Street to save us from Wall Street.

Matt Taibbi really is second to none when it comes to unravelling Wall Street's grotesque larceny and affectations of complexity in order to disguise their abject avarice - although Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert come a close second !! As such I append :

Wall street and its counter parts else where control people--contemporary money represents order and control.Its opposite is helping each other and at the same time measuring/recording/processing that(the sought of help/work one does).

The ills of the society can be rectified only if we shun the contemporary financial/monetary system and that needs a revolution which the twenty first century civilization should not wait for but do but that needs planning for stopping the suppression of the revolution.

Solidarity against the banks! Undo the shame of low wages and debt that this insane society places on people. It is not anyone's fault that they make a low wage and are forced into debt in order to survive. That is the result of a failed economic system that only works for the wealthy and corporations. That shame game is how they perpetuate this thing where they exploit the masses. Get out and fight for your wages and your life. Demand an end to usury interest!

I recently read in the NY Times that the average American who earns $20,000 per year is $26,000 in debt. F'ing insanity! We do not have to live like this. This is a sham. Wake up people! Fight for a living wage and a decent life.

You are definitely right about the rolling jubilee. A brilliant idea. We must stand up to these greedy grubbers and get our lives back. Humans can't live happy healthy lives if they have to go into debt in order to survive.

I also think the fight for a living wage is the most important fight because it solves so many other problems.

A 'Living Wage' is of paramount importance for The 99% & standing up to "greedy grubbers" is a must if The US 99% are to reclaim their and their children's future. Further to the links above, I also append :

Nothing is ever granted with largesse by The 0.01% Parasite Class and only through Collective Struggle have Americans attained any of the rights that they once (if not now) enjoyed & with this in mind, see :

Businesses would prosper all the more if consumers had more discretionary income. I just don't buy any other argument, unless of course, one is trying to hold onto the debtor society we are currently in. Then in that case, right, don't increase wages. F'd up a little?

More and more 'real businesses' can see the very real advantages of a living wage 'cause the present situation is "F'd up" A LOT !! Also, very pertinently to the subject of Trevor's forum-post, please see :

The cultivated apathy of Americans is exactly why "the depressing list" warrants repetition because they need to see that in modern societies in which access to most essential of life from food and water to shelter and health care depends on money - control of money is the ultimate instrument of control.

Fortunately, with the help of 'OWS' - Americans are waking up to an important truth. It is a very, very bad idea to yield control of the issuance and allocation of credit (money) to Wall Street banks run by con artists who operate beyond the reach of public accountability and who view the rest of the population, as simple-minded marks ripe for the exploiting.

By going along with its deceptions, the people passively empowered Wall Street to convert America from a middle class society of entrepreneurs, investors and skilled workers into a nation of debt slaves. Buying into Wall Street lies and illusions, Americans have been lured into accepting - indeed even aggressively promoting, “tax relief” for the very rich and the “regulatory relief” and “free trade” agreements for corporations that allowed Wall Street to suppress wages and benefits for working people through union busting, automation, and outsourcing jobs to foreign sweatshops.

Once working people were unable to make ends meet with current income, Wall Street lured them into making up the difference by taking on credit card and more mortgage debt they had no means to repay. They were soon borrowing to pay not only for basics and current consumption, but as well to pay the interest on prior unpaid debt.
This is the classic downward spiral of debt slavery that guarantees an ever-growing divide between the power and luxury of an avaricious Creditor Class and the powerless desperation of a Debtor Class.

The critical distinctions between - the making of money and the creation of wealth ... is The True Key to seeing through Wall Street’s illusions.
Real Wealth actually includes fertile land ; pure water ; clean air ; healthy food ; caring relationships ; healthy, happy children ; quality education and health care ; fulfilling opportunities for service ; peace and even time for meditation and spiritual reflection.

These are just a few among the many forms of 'Real Wealth', to which we should properly expect a sound economy to contribute - but Wall Street has so seriously corrupted the language however - that it is now difficult even to express the crucial distinctions between money (which is a facilitator of actual economic activity) & Real Wealth (the purpose of economic activity).

Economists and 'financial commentators' will routinely use terms like 'wealth, capital, resources & assets' when referring to the 'phantom wealth' of financial assets, which makes them sound like something real, substantial and tangible - whether or not they are backed by anything of real value. Similarly, they identify folks engaged in market speculation and manipulation as 'investors', thus glossing over the distinction between those who game the system to expropriate wealth and those who contribute to its creation.

OWS - because Wall Street Has Occupied America (& this bw) - For Long Enough !!!

I think you have hit the nail on the head, here. The difference between real wealth and money is the key to it all. What do we want out of life? What are our priorities? These are the things we need to decide as a people. Once we decide what is important we must ensure that our government makes it happen.

Right now 'phantom wealth,' as you so aptly put it, is the priority. But, most human beings would not agree, they just simply have been sucked into a power driven system.

A living wage would foster a sustainable life without needing to go into debt to survive as well as much less need for "entitlement" programs. Keep in mind, I think the only "entitled" ones are the wealthy and corporations.

As well as let kids in school know that after graduation that they will have a life that does not require illegal activities to support - make possible. BTW - I think entitled is how they feel ( corpoRATions ) but what they receive is ( OBSCENE ) unwarranted coddling.

Really? With a name like yours? Au argent = to the money. I have news for you, your economic rights are much more important than your rights to carry a gun. That's why the cons talk about gun rights so much while the wealthy and corporations run off with all the money.

It doesn't say anywhere in the Constitution that we must have a market driven economy. It does say, in the Preamble, that the Constitution must promote the general welfare of the people. People who earn so little that they have to go into debt in order to survive are not having their general welfare promoted, they are being treated like animals.

Funny. Promoting the "general welfare" would mean people not needing the kind of "welfare" you refer to. And, DKA is right, below, there are only more people receiving government benefits because of the Global Financial Crisis and near economic depression.